Pros
Dish does pay a decent wage, it's the first thing that attracts you to look and/or apply. Also, you will gain a great deal of experience on what not to do in future jobs and how to dance around corporate red tape for any and all personal needs (time off, HR issues, etc). You will learn how to creatively solve problems to bypass the fact that management does not solve noted problems. Management will solve a few large issues, but in the process will create job stability for you by creating three more problems to replace the one they fixed. Dish also has very low standards, despite touting themselves as Captains of Industry, and will lower them if they are consistently not met: so job performance and being promoted aren't really an issue as long as you just show up.
Kontras
The biggest con the the passive, nonchalant attitude of the upper management. The buck stops the second or third tier, according to lower management. This employee suspects that management, as a whole, have poor communications, disassociation with blue collar employees, a distorted view of the company as a whole, and sharply conflicting management styles. Management made an effort to rectify Dish's poor rating this past year by surveying employees who responded the biggest issue is bad insurance. Management, yet again, let employees know their lack of compassion by informing employees that they would have to wait until the new health-care laws took effect before management would consider any changes, but here's a consolation prize of a few more dollars towards glasses. It's very interesting that Dish stated they instituted such bad benefits to save money, but the president of the company is the 38th richest man in America. Such acts of blatant disregard make it difficult to take the company seriously as a career opportunity. Many young talents simply see Dish as a stepping stone to something bigger and better. The high attrition rate at the company is nothing to be dismissed either as it is a very good indicator of how long one might stay at Dish. They have a constant attrition rate and in some departments, it's over 100%: not only did they lose every single new employee they hired, they lost employees they already had. Such a high turn-over rate does not inspire work-place passion or enthusiasm to try to better the company. Not to mention how many faces you'll see come and go. In a wide sweep to cleanse the company, they will do Talent Upgrades and fire the percentage of the company they consider under performing. Though it may be a lengthy process to replace many of the people is of no concern and the bar for performing being rather arbitrary. There is such a clear divide between hourly employees and salaried management that it permeates the culture of the company. Management blames employees for ongoing issues while they negotiate back-room deals to be an ever changing and growing behemoth. Employees complain constantly and have bad attitudes noting the lack of respect, lack of influence on any type of procedure/policy, and sheer lack of power to successfully complete even daily tasks. A culture of ultra-success and numbers driven results are pressed but not enforced, while employees are set-up for failure again and again while known issues and hindrances persist. Frankly, it is a mouse-wheel of a job filled with non-substantiated anxiety and pressure. Additionally, excessively poor communications throughout the company and various departments are a con. The company has become so large and corporate that most positions have been pigeon-holed and highly specialized causing multiple people to have to work together to help a customer or solve a problem. But the little to no communication between the departments causes a poor customer service experience as the ball gets dropped three out of five times and something goes wrong. Customers are misinformed again and again, treated to an unprofessional spectacle of 'who-done-it' playing out on the other end of the phone, and lead on a wild goose chase to get anything out of the ordinary really taken care of. Not too surprising that they've consistently ranked with low customer service scores and customers complain they were not informed of many things. It's a maze of operator ids, foreign accents of an outsourced army of reps, and few knowledgeable people. Lastly, don't let the fancy pay act as a real positive in factoring in whether you apply for this job or not. The pay will fluctuate little to none during your tenure, unless you are in a department that offers bonuses: operations, customer service phone reps, and sales. You will have a lengthy, red-tape filled yearly review, but will not receive much of a raise. Everyone gets about the same despite length of employment, performance, attendance, etc. Additionally, Dish is notorious for hiring people at a higher pay rate than current employees and refusing to equalize pay even though new hires are in the same department and have the same title. It's no incentive to take the company seriously or stick around.
